Go Go Squid (Chinese Drama, New)
Falling in love with our hero at first sight, our heroine, an online singing celebrity and a genius IT programmer student begins to pursue our hero in earnest. A professional gamer, our hero is usually cold and aloof but he begins to notice a certain girl who keeps showing up in front of him in the most awkward situations.
I like the vibe between our two leads but the story’s pacing was slower than I would’ve preferred. Still, the story is cute enough to put it on my “under observation” list.
This one is on Viki.com
Love Affair in the Afternoon (Korean Drama, New)
A K-remake of 2017 J-drama, Hirugao: Love Affair in the Afternoon. A quiet and mousy housewife who seems to be trapped in her suffocating normal life, Ji Eun can’t help feels like she has nothing in common with Soo A, a glamorous housewife who has just moved into her neighborhood. Stunned to discover the perfect looking Soo A is secretly having affairs, Ji Eun’s own heart starts to sway dangerously when she meets a gentle biology teacher through their repeated encounters.
Is it just me or are cheating drama the thing lately? The J-original’s ending wasn’t the kind that would entice me to watch this one so I don’t see myself following the K-remake unless it decides to change the ending drastically.
You can find this one on ondemandkorea.com
Hotel De Luna (Korean Drama, New)
Hong sister’s new fantasy horror romance! I went into this one with fairly high expectations since it is written by Hong sisters after all…and I totally loved it! Now, I have to admit I really like the retelling of fairytales so I was sold the moment I realized Hong sisters had cleverly incorporated a famous fairytale into the plot. I won’t name which one here as not to spoil the story for you all.
Out of Hong sisters’ dramas, my favorite one is probably the Master’s Sun so I was also curious how Hotel de Luna would compare to Master’s Sun since both deals with ghosts. Hotel De Luna seems to be lower on the scary scale compares to Master’s sun but then again, judging by the first episode, Hotel de Luna is more like a cross between Master’s Sun and Goblin (not written by Hong sisters).
Before watching the show, I had a bit of trouble picturing IU playing our heroine who is the bad temper cursed owner of a hotel for ghosts but I worried for nothing as IU did an awesome job! I loved the contrast of what our heroine appears on the outside (a very fashionable dainty young lady) to what she really is inside- a very powerful bad-tempered and jaded immortal who has lived for too long carrying far too much emotional baggage.
Actor Yeo Jin Goo (My Absolute Boyfriend) plays our poor hero who should’ve had a bright future at his pick of big international hotels but ends up becoming the manager for our heroine’s ghost hotel. From the few but very memorable scenes of our two leads together in the first episode, I think the chemistry between our two leads’ should be quite good.
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*I will be traveling for the next three weeks with spotty internet access so other than the Phoenixes translation posts (which will remain on schedule), all other ones will be paused or updated when I am able.
Thanks for the synopsis Ninja. Enjoy your travel time and my gratitude for translating all the Phoenixes updates so I can still get my fix!
I enjoy GGS a lot, as long our OTP and the team is on screen. The backflashes are rather backstories than flashes and bores me out of my mind. Regarding the story length of the novel and the episodes of the series there have to be a lot of fillers. Let’s hope it is on the better side. OP and ED suggests focus on side characters, what I normally like as long it is woven in neatly.
Hong Sisters is rather hit or miss. The last Drama from the I really loved was Master’s Sun where they a very lucky hand with both OTP and Main Side actors + directing. They all made the often underwhelming script an enjoyable and addicting ride. I surely will take a peek into Luna but not yet.
Thanks for the roundup, your posts will be missed. Safe travels.